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I had the opportunity to speak on a “Coffee Talk” panel last week at the MISMO Fall Summit held in Crystal City, Virginia, which is just south of Washington, D.C. It was great to see old friends and new participants in this first face-to-face MISMO gathering in over 18 months!
The topic of my session was entitled “MISMO NexGen,” which is the charter of a newly formed Development Workgroup exploring new, more effective methods for managing and publishing the primary MISMO data standards product known as the “Reference Model.”
For those unfamiliar, “The Reference Model” which is in its fifth release (3.5) since its initial launch in 2010, is a massive collection of data points and definitions specific to mortgage banking and published as XML Schema. This schema is then used as a source for the development of information exchange XML messages used to convey data between systems for various processes including interaction with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, settlement services, application exchange, etc.
With me on the panel were two other MISMO participants who have been instrumental in the inception of the initiative – Steve Acker, MISMO staff member and owner of Closergeist, as well as Domenico Virgillo, Solutions Architect from United Wholesale Mortgage. Jay Arneja, Principal Product Manager from SimpleNexus, served as the panel’s moderator.
During the 45-minute session, our group tackled four key questions which I’ve summarized below. The objective was to further amplify the new Development Work Group’s (DWG) founding ideas premised on enabling industry stakeholders the ability to implement high value MISMO-based solutions in a more timely and cost-effective manner.
What was the driving factor for this NexGen initiative?
The initial incentive for the new initiative is a high-level vision which comes from lessons-learned from the prior 3.X generations of the Reference Model (RM) which strained under its own weight and were not resilient enough to change. Today, even the most traditional “black and white” technology implementations are hitting roadblocks adding time and money to project rollouts.
Improving data governance by both MISMO and subscribing users is a critical component of how to improve the RM’s effectiveness and usability., Adding unique identifiers to each element in the model is one way to dramatically improve change management for both MISMO as well as implementers.
To remove some of the basic obstacles in adoption of the standard, the panel discussed a driving principal of identifying the core data structures common to all implementations. Then adding more oversight to protect the “Core” with new rules like requiring more advanced notice and a subscriber vote before any changes are made. Those core structures would be aligned to, but not impacted by changes to less critical business/domain-specific data structures which would be managed separately.
This core and domain approach more efficiently enables more flexibility for the different sizes and “shapes” of information exchange messages between systems is also needed across the board. Componentization of key data and support of modern technology, such as JSON, that requires less over head in data processing is a surefire way to address that.
How will this change improve adoption of new technologies/initiatives in the industry?
The theme of the day is with more clearly defined governance techniques applied to the overall RM it will be less invasive for an organization to introduce MISMO terminology into existing protocols. Information exchange message specifications will also be able to flourish. Less rework translates to less risk for user adoption.
The residual benefit is this will create greater alignment among MISMO Standards & Products. Focusing on terms and definitions and less on file format rigidity will naturally bring language improvement between organizations and guidance for structure will make assemblage faster. Less full schema architecture and more predefined schema components will also create simplifications for adoption.
The use of MISMO in JSON for APIs and improved digital communications across the industry will thrive as well as help to speed new implementations.
How will this affect users of the current version 3 Series Reference Model?
The current XML Schema inherently adds overhead. For certain use cases though this has been an acceptable trade-off for high volume, highly structured transactions that span the spectrum of mortgage industry.
As with all things MISMO, open standards offering multiple styles (releases and products) provide support for both legacy implementations and future needs in an inclusive way. Dom was keen to point out during the session that going forward, more nimble use cases will benefit by having more dynamic means of applying data validations between systems.
What about Data Governance, release procedures, how will this initiative be the gift that keeps giving?
I feel strongly that by moving to an ontology approach, the industry maintains the benefit of a common language for data without the burden of a rigid structure that must be broken to effect even modest updates in the form of large releases. This provides the ability for more velocity in the use of standards in all aspects of the industry by allowing implementations to align to MISMO terminology more easily.
From a technical perspective, the combined legacy structure would still be published but as an assembly option of the new MISMO building blocks. MISMO would continue to maintain any updates made to the core dictionary and releases as it does today with input from the work groups and procedures adopted for Information Management and Architecture committees. Subscribers will be able to implement all at their own pace and appetite.
MISMO standards only solve important industry issues when adopted and implemented by industry participants. This Coffee Talk session, and now this blog, are two ways in which we’re trying to share what’s planned with MISMO NexGen or Reference Model 4.0. If you would like to get involved or learn more, feel free to reach out to me at Elizabeth.Green@loanlogics.com or visit the new DWG’s page on the MISMO Connect website.
